SGA operating with full senate

Six new senators were confirmed without opposition during the Student Government Association’s meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Senators and their departments are as follows:

Gracie Richardson – College of Arts and Letters

Amber James – College of Behavioral and Health Sciences

Courtney Covington – College of Education

Colin Crist – College of Science and Mathematics

Justis Hand – College of Science and Mathematics

Kaitlyn Reagan – Sophomore position

The appointments generated no discussion among current senators and allow SGA to operate with zero vacancies.

President Ryan Honea said it is important for SGA senators to speak with the deans of their colleges in order to properly address the needs of the student body.

“As senators you are tasked with being the voice of the students to the administration and working to develop trust among students by listening to them and figuring out what the problems are and trying to fix them,” Honea said.

Honea also reiterated that one piece of legislation is required per semester from each member of the senate.

Executive Secretary Blaine Gundersen said APSU is officially an institutional member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE is a nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia that provides workshops and conferences to assist schools around the world with sustainability.

Sen. Rebecca Jacks introduced three pieces of legislation pertaining to election gifts, acid-free paper and orientation for new senators.

Act. No. 14 would prevent gifts from being given or accepted by SGA candidates in exchange for votes. The act pushesfor “word-of-mouth” campaigning instead.

Res. No. 23 calls for the library to switch to acid-free paper. The legislation says the paper currently used by the library and other departments around campus uses a certain type of acid that makes the paper harder to recycle.

Res. No. 24 would put an orientation period in place for potential senators two weeks before SGA elections to better prepare them for their role in the senate.

The SGA Blood Drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, and Thursday, Feb. 9 in MUC Ballroom A&B.